Nightmare
by malic124
Summary: Jude and Connor have a sleepover at the Adams Foster home. While they're sleeping, Connor has a nightmare about the night he was shot.


Lena opened the front door. Connor had arrived for the sleepover.

"Hi Lena!" Connor said brightly.

"Hi Connor, come on in," Lena said, smiling at his enthusiasm. Connor followed her inside and she shut the door behind them.

"Where is everyone?" Connor asked.

"Well, AJ is staying with Mike tonight, so you don't have to crash on the couch. Callie and Mariana are upstairs working on Callie's app. Brandon is out with some friends for the night. Stef gets off work in about half an hour. And Jude is in the kitchen talking to Jesus. You can go and talk to him, if you want. I'll take your stuff and put it in Jude's room.

"Thanks!" said Connor, taking his backpack off his shoulder and handing it to Lena before heading toward the kitchen. Jude was sitting on the dining table, the home phone up to his ear. His face lit up when he saw Connor in the room, and he waved.

"Yes, Jesus," Jude said with an air of sarcasm. "Our room is totally safe." After a few seconds of Jesus talking, Jude let out a loud laugh. "Trust me, if I had rearranged that room at all, you'd have been the first to know!" He said, laughing heartily. "Listen, I gotta go. Connor's here. I'll talk to you soon. Bye."

Jude hung up the phone and beamed at Connor. "Hey, sorry about that," he said.

"No, it's OK," Connor said. "How's he doing?"

Jude grinned. "He's convinced that AJ and I have totally rearranged our room, so that he won't be able to sleep comfortably in it when he gets back. I don't know where he gets all his crazy ideas."

They both laughed for a few seconds. "So, your Dad is cool with you staying here tonight?"

"It took some persuading on my part, but once I told him that basically your whole family would be here, he let up."

Jude nodded. "I'm really glad that you're here," he said, taking one of Connor's hands into his own.

Connor smiled at him. "Me, too."

* * *

A little while later, they heard the front door open again and approaching footsteps. Stef walked into the kitchen, still in her cop uniform.

"Hey, boys," she said, smiling at them. "You guys hungry? I think Mama and I are going to order a pizza, so we don't have to cook for everyone tonight."

Jude and Connor nodded excitedly.

"That's what I thought," Stef said, grinning. "Family!" she called over her shoulder. "In the kitchen pronto! We're ordering pizza."

Within thirty seconds, the rest of the Adams Foster family had appeared in the kitchen. Lena kissed Stef on the head as they all gathered. She pulled out her laptop and started looking for pizza deals.

"Three pizzas should be enough, right?" Lena asked.

Stef chuckled. "It had better be. These two eat like nobody else's business," she said, motioning to Jude and Connor, who both grinned, slightly embarrassed. "We'll get some breadsticks and maybe some dessert, too."

Lena kept clicking on her laptop before she finally hit the order button.

"Pizza will be here in 25 minutes," she said. "Let's go in the living room and wait."

* * *

By 11:00, everyone was worn out. After enjoying pizza, they watched a movie called _Too Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar_ , about three drag queens who got stuck in a Midwestern small town after they car broke down on their way to Hollywood for a national drag queen contest. They had all spent the moving laughing at all the jokes, and Stef and Lena laughing at the way Patrick Swayze looked in a dress and how he could easily pass for a woman.

Once the movie was over, they all trekked upstairs, exhausted. While Connor changed into pajamas, Jude brushed his teeth and vice versa. Once they were both ready for bed, Jude turned off the main light in the bedroom, leaving only the lamps by his and Jesus' bed on.

"Bed comfortable enough?" Jude asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Connor said. "It smells like it was just washed."

Jude nodded. "Mama washed it this afternoon. She said it would probably be better for you."

Connor giggled. "I do appreciate that," he said.

"Hey, if my teeth grinding bothers you, you can just throw a pillow at me or something."

"It's never bothered me," Connor said, grinning. "The first time we slept over, it kinda took me by surprise, but I don't mind it. Don't worry."

Jude smiled. "Goodnight," he said.

"Night," Connor said, turning off the lamp and laying his head on the pillow.

* * *

Jude woke with a start. He heard movement coming from Jesus' bed, and what sounded like Connor whimpering. He turned on his lamp and looked over at Connor, who was tossing and turning on the bed.

Quietly, Jude crept out of his bed and walked over to Connor, who was sweating. He bent down next to the bed, and placed his hand on Connor's arm. Suddenly, Connor woke up, gasping.

"It's OK, it's OK," Jude said hurriedly, trying to make sure they didn't wake anyone else in the house.

Connor took a few deep breaths, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"Sorry," he said breathlessly. "Bad dream."

"You wanna talk about it?" Jude asked, as Connor sat up and put his hands on his head.

"You remember when we went to the shooting range and I told you that I'm not OK?"

"Yeah," Jude said, placing a hand on Connor's shoulder.

"I'm still not OK," Connor said in a shaky voice. "I keep having nightmares about the night I was shot. I'm even having dreams where you were shot, and it scares me to death," he said, finally breaking down and letting the tears fall.

Jude pulled Connor closer, letting him cry on his shoulder.

"It's OK, Connor," he said in a soothing voice. "You went through something pretty bad. It's OK to have nightmares about it. It's happened to me, too."

Connor nodded, wiping the tears from his face. "I just wish I didn't keep dreaming about it," he said.

Jude kissed Connor on his forehead before taking one of his hands in his own. "You feel this?" Jude asked. Connor nodded, confused at what his boyfriend was doing. "I'm never letting go, Connor. I promise. I'll never let go."

Connor nodded. "I'll never let go, Jude," he whispered back.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?" Jude asked as Connor moved to lie back down.

"I'd like that," Connor said, wiping away the last of his tears. Jude lay down next to him, pulling Connor into his arms and kissing him. They grabbed hands and held on to each other tightly.

"I'll never let go," Jude whispered as they both fell asleep.


End file.
